/Patty Murray Is The Senate’s First Female President Pro Tempore | HuffPost Latest News

Patty Murray Is The Senate’s First Female President Pro Tempore | HuffPost Latest News

But across the building, with little fanfare, the Senate quietly made history: It elected Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to be its first female president pro tempore. The position represents the second-highest ranking in the Senate, after the vice president, and it puts this senator third in line to the presidency.

“Should that horrible moment that no one ever wants to have happen, happen, I need to be ready for that,” she said. “I’m trying to make sure I am up to speed on all domestic issues, international issues, making sure if that should happen, I could step in and the country can feel confident.”

The Washington Democrat said the Senate has come a long way in welcoming women into its ranks. She said she’ll never forget a speech she gave on the Senate floor in 1993 in support of a family leave bill, during which she talked about a friend whose boss told her she’d be fired if she took time off to take care of her son, who had been newly diagnosed with leukemia.

“I just looked right at him and said, ‘I came here to tell stories because that’s what is happening in the country. If we don’t tell stories, how will anyone ever know?’” she said. “I think that has dramatically changed. I think people understand the importance of relating this to people…. That whole dynamic of how we talk in the Senate and get things passed has changed.”

Besides being president pro tem, Murray will chair the Senate Appropriations Committee in the new Congress. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) will be her GOP counterpart on the panel. In the House, their counterparts are Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Kay Granger (R-Texas). That means the top four appropriators in Congress will be women.

Democrats have certainly elevated women into Senate leadership roles in recent years. In the new Congress, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) will chair the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) will chair the Steering Committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) will be vice chair of the Senate Democratic caucus and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) will be vice chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.